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The Desert Song
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The Desert Song
The Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Berber fighters, against French colonial rule in Morocco. It was also inspired by stories of Lawrence of Arabia aiding native guerrillas. Many tales romanticizing Saharan North Africa were in vogue, including Beau Geste and The Son of the Sheik.
Originally titled "Lady Fair", after successful out-of-town tryouts in Wilmington, Delaware, and Boston, Massachusetts, the original Broadway production opened at the Casino Theatre on November 30, 1926, and ran for 471 performances. The piece enjoyed a London production and was revived on Broadway in 1946 and 1973. In the 1980s, it was played regularly by the Light Opera of Manhattan and revived by the New York City Opera. It is a popular piece for community light opera groups.
The story is a version of plots such as The Scarlet Pimpernel, Zorro and later Superman, where a hero adopts a mild-mannered disguise to keep his true identity a secret. He loves a beautiful and spirited girl, who loves his hero persona but does not know his real personality, which he keeps hidden under the milquetoast facade.
The original Broadway production opened at the Casino Theatre on November 30, 1926, and ran for 471 performances. It starred Vivienne Segal as Margot Bonvalet and Edmund Elton as General Birabeau. The leading man was Scottish baritone Robert Halliday. It was directed by Arthur Hurley and choreographed by Bobby Connolly, who was later to choreograph the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. In the 1927 London production at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane the leading roles were taken by Harry Welchman and Edith Day, and numerous excerpts were recorded with the London cast supported by the Drury Lane orchestra and chorus under conductor Herman Finck. The show was briefly revived on Broadway in 1946 (at New York City Center) and 1973.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the Light Opera of Manhattan mounted the operetta several times. To celebrate the centennial of Romberg's birth in 1987, New York City Opera staged a lavish production with Richard White and Linda Michele. The Desert Song is still occasionally performed and has been made into a motion picture four times, though the second version was a short subject, rather than a feature-length film. All film versions were made by Warner Brothers.
In 1929, a lavish film with Technicolor sequences starred John Boles as the Red Shadow and Carlotta King as Margot, and featured Myrna Loy as Azuri. This version was scrupulously faithful to, and captured the spirit of, the original Broadway production and became a hit. By the 1940s, the 1929 film could not be shown in the United States because of its Pre-Code content, which included sexual innuendo, suggestive humor and open discussion of themes such as homosexuality. Apparently, the Technicolor sequences have survived only in black-and-white. To capitalize on the success of the original picture, in 1932 Warner Bros. released The Red Shadow, a 19-minute black-and-white short consisting chiefly of musical numbers. This film, which has been restored, was directed by Roy Mack, and starred Alexander Gray and Bernice Claire.
A second feature film was made in 1943. The plot was altered to have the hero fighting the Nazis. Filmed entirely in three-strip Technicolor, it starred Dennis Morgan and Irene Manning. A third color feature version was made in 1953, with most of the adult themes and humor being removed or "sanitized". This version altered the plot to make General Birabeau the father of Margot, rather than the father of the Red Shadow, as in the play. It starred Kathryn Grayson and Gordon MacRae, and featured Allyn McLerie as Azuri. Both the 1943 and the 1953 films changed the hero's name from the Red Shadow to El Khobar. In the 1953 version, El Khobar's disguise was that of a mild-mannered Latin teacher who tutored Margot and had to fend off her amorous advances (which were fairly discreet by modern standards). Also in 1953, all the singing was done by El Khobar, Margot and the male chorus. None of the other characters in the film sing.
Another sanitized version was adapted for live television in 1955 (with Nelson Eddy, Gale Sherwood and Salvatore Baccaloni as Ali Ben Ali). One of the writers brought in to shorten and modernize some risque dialogue was the young Neil Simon.
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The Desert Song
The Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Berber fighters, against French colonial rule in Morocco. It was also inspired by stories of Lawrence of Arabia aiding native guerrillas. Many tales romanticizing Saharan North Africa were in vogue, including Beau Geste and The Son of the Sheik.
Originally titled "Lady Fair", after successful out-of-town tryouts in Wilmington, Delaware, and Boston, Massachusetts, the original Broadway production opened at the Casino Theatre on November 30, 1926, and ran for 471 performances. The piece enjoyed a London production and was revived on Broadway in 1946 and 1973. In the 1980s, it was played regularly by the Light Opera of Manhattan and revived by the New York City Opera. It is a popular piece for community light opera groups.
The story is a version of plots such as The Scarlet Pimpernel, Zorro and later Superman, where a hero adopts a mild-mannered disguise to keep his true identity a secret. He loves a beautiful and spirited girl, who loves his hero persona but does not know his real personality, which he keeps hidden under the milquetoast facade.
The original Broadway production opened at the Casino Theatre on November 30, 1926, and ran for 471 performances. It starred Vivienne Segal as Margot Bonvalet and Edmund Elton as General Birabeau. The leading man was Scottish baritone Robert Halliday. It was directed by Arthur Hurley and choreographed by Bobby Connolly, who was later to choreograph the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. In the 1927 London production at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane the leading roles were taken by Harry Welchman and Edith Day, and numerous excerpts were recorded with the London cast supported by the Drury Lane orchestra and chorus under conductor Herman Finck. The show was briefly revived on Broadway in 1946 (at New York City Center) and 1973.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the Light Opera of Manhattan mounted the operetta several times. To celebrate the centennial of Romberg's birth in 1987, New York City Opera staged a lavish production with Richard White and Linda Michele. The Desert Song is still occasionally performed and has been made into a motion picture four times, though the second version was a short subject, rather than a feature-length film. All film versions were made by Warner Brothers.
In 1929, a lavish film with Technicolor sequences starred John Boles as the Red Shadow and Carlotta King as Margot, and featured Myrna Loy as Azuri. This version was scrupulously faithful to, and captured the spirit of, the original Broadway production and became a hit. By the 1940s, the 1929 film could not be shown in the United States because of its Pre-Code content, which included sexual innuendo, suggestive humor and open discussion of themes such as homosexuality. Apparently, the Technicolor sequences have survived only in black-and-white. To capitalize on the success of the original picture, in 1932 Warner Bros. released The Red Shadow, a 19-minute black-and-white short consisting chiefly of musical numbers. This film, which has been restored, was directed by Roy Mack, and starred Alexander Gray and Bernice Claire.
A second feature film was made in 1943. The plot was altered to have the hero fighting the Nazis. Filmed entirely in three-strip Technicolor, it starred Dennis Morgan and Irene Manning. A third color feature version was made in 1953, with most of the adult themes and humor being removed or "sanitized". This version altered the plot to make General Birabeau the father of Margot, rather than the father of the Red Shadow, as in the play. It starred Kathryn Grayson and Gordon MacRae, and featured Allyn McLerie as Azuri. Both the 1943 and the 1953 films changed the hero's name from the Red Shadow to El Khobar. In the 1953 version, El Khobar's disguise was that of a mild-mannered Latin teacher who tutored Margot and had to fend off her amorous advances (which were fairly discreet by modern standards). Also in 1953, all the singing was done by El Khobar, Margot and the male chorus. None of the other characters in the film sing.
Another sanitized version was adapted for live television in 1955 (with Nelson Eddy, Gale Sherwood and Salvatore Baccaloni as Ali Ben Ali). One of the writers brought in to shorten and modernize some risque dialogue was the young Neil Simon.